Sewing-machine ruffler



(No Model.)

J. M. GRIEST.

SEWING MACHINE RUFFLER.

No. 394,969. Patented Dec. 25, 1888.

N4 PETERs. PhulwLilhoy-apwr. Wzshinglon. D C.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JOHN M. GRIEST, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER MANU- FACTURING COMPANY OF NEXV JERSEY.

SEWING=MACHINE RUF-F'LER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,969, dated December 25, 1888.

Application filed December 27, 1887. Serial No. 259,094. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. GRIEs'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machine Ru'flicrs, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawings.

IO My invention relates to that class of ruffiing or gathering attachments for sewingmachines which are operated from the needle-bar of the machine in such a manner that the ruffling-blade is advanced to make a gather as the needle rises and is retracted for a fresh hold on the goods as the needle descends to sew the gather, the object of my inveniion being to produce an attachment of the class referred to which will be simple in construction, so that it may be made at little expense, and one in which the parts are so arranged that the power is applied to the best advantage, so that there will be but little drag on the needle-bar.

2 5 In carrying my invention into effect I provide a pendulous blade-carrying arm and pivot the same to a vertical standard, which is preferably formed integral with a presserfoot to be attached to the presser-bar of the 0 machine, as is common with these attachments. To an extension of the standard to which the blade carrying arm is pivoted is also pivoted an operating lever forked at its free end to embrace a screw or other 3 5 projection on the needle bar, said operating-lever being connected by a link with the blade-carrying -arm in such a manner that the said linkand the rear portion of the said lever form a toggle. The link is provided blade-carrying arm, and a regulating-lever pivoted on and movable with the blade-carrying arm is provided with a lug which extends into said slot and against which the said pin impinges to operate the blade-carrying arm. By adjusting the regulating-lever so that there will be more or less lost motion of the pin in the slot before it comes in contact with the lug of the regulating-lever the rufflingblade may be given any desired throw.

with a pin which projects into a slot in the In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are elevations, with the parts in different positions, of my improved ruffier. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the blade-carrying arm, the regulating-lever carried thereby, and the ruining-blade; and lilfl'. r, a plan view of the attachment, partly in horizontal section, on line a 4, Fig. l.

The frame-work of the attachment comprises an ordinary presserfoot portion, A, "50 adapted to be attached to the prcsser-bar of a sewing-machine, and a stamlard, a, having an extension, (0, an arm, a to which latteris secured the separator-plate I), being attached to or formed integral with the said extension.

The operating-lever C c, which is forked at its free end to embrace a screw or other proj ection in the needle-bar, is pivoted at its front end to the extension a of the standard a, and to the said lever at d (or rearward of its fulcrum) is pivotally attached the link d, having at its free end the pin 61*.

E is the pendulous blade-carrying arm or blade-carrier, pivoted at e to the standard a, and having a horizontal portion, 2, at its lower end, to which is attached the rufliing-blade e The arm E is provided with a slot, 6 which is entered by the pin (1 on the link (1, and to the said arm E is pivotedat f the regulating-lever F, having a lug, j", which enters the said slot. e to be engaged by the said pin. The lever F is of spring metal, and is provided at its upper end with a lug, f to engage the toothed portion 6'' of the arm E, the said lug being normally sprung into engagement with the said toothed portion 6 The lever F is also provided with a fingerpiece, f to be pressed against to release the lug f 2 from engagement with the toothed portion 6 of the arm E when the said lever is to be adjusted. By adjusting the lever F to the left, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the operative length of the slot a will be lessened, so that the throw of the ruffiing-blade with a given movement of the operating-lever will be increased, and 5 by adjusting the said lever in the opposite direction or to the right, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the operative length of the said slot 6 will be in creased, so that the pin 01 on the link dwill have more or less lost motion in the said slot,

and a lesser throw will consequently be given to the arm E and the ruffling-blade carried thereby.

It will be observed that the front portion, 0, of the operating-lever and the link 1 form a toggle, and when the operating-lever is raised, as shown in Fig.1, these two parts are in line with each other and the ruffling-blade is at its extreme forward position; but when the operating-lever is depressed, as in l ig. 2, and the parts of the toggle are out. of line the rutiling-blade is entirely retracted. As the needle-bar rises and raises the operatinglever, the toggle is gradually straightened out; but as the parts approach the position shown in Fig. l the movement imparted to the bladecarrying arm becomes slower as the leverage of the toggle increases by the straightening out of the two parts of the toggle, so that at the time when the strain or w ,+ight on the ruining-blade is the heaviest (owin to the approach to completion of the gather being made) the leverage of the toggle is the great est, and thus the strain or weight on the needle-bar will be equalized and the operation of ruffiing will be felt as little as possible by the machine.

To afford a compact arrangement of the parts, I prefer to provide the o )erating-lever with offsets or bends at c c to give room for the link d and the blade-carrying arm E behind the said lever or between the latter and the standard a.

For convenience of description and to identit'y the arrangements of the parts or elements of the blade-operating mechanism in the claims I will term the part of the rather or rutiler-frame at which the operating-lever is pivoted the front thereof (said part being in front of the needle-bar and needle or on the side thereof toward the operator) and the presser-foot part of the rutlier (which is mainly behind the needle) the rear part or end thereof.

As above stated, the forked free end of the operatingdever receives a screw or otherprojection on the needle-bar of the machine, and as the body of the rul'fl er extends toward the operator in front of the needle-bar (the position of which relative to the ruffler indicated by this forked end of the operating-1e ver) it will be evident that both parts of the toggle are in frontof the needle-bar and n eedle. This arrangement of parts enables me to connect the toggle with the ruffling-blmle carrier in such a manner that the said carrier and the rufflingblade will operate positively in both directions, and so that the toggle will be arranged to straighten out in forcing the blade forward and to have its parts partly fold up when the blade is retracted, and thus the greatest leverage is secured at the times when there is the greatest strain or weight on the ruffiing-blade, as hereinbefore described.

I am aware that it is not new, broadly, to operate rufliing-blades from. the needle-bars of sewing-imlchines by toggles; but the toggles heretofore used for this purpose have not been so arranged as to give the ruftiing-blade its forward or ruiliing stroke as the toggles were straightental out, and thus the power has not been applied to the best advantage, as it is in my improved rull'ler.

I claim 1. In a sewing-maehin e ru t'fl ing attachmmit, the combination, with the l'lllllfil'dil'ttlllfi, the rutiiing-blade, and theearrier for the latter, of a toggle formed by an operating-lever and a link, said lever being pivoted at one end to the front end of said frame and the said link being pivoted to said lever between the pivotal point and the free end of the latter, and being also cmineeted to the said ruliiercarrier, whereby the said toggle is arranged to have its parts straighten out when the ruttlin g-l )lad e is advanced and to fall out of line when the said blade is retracted, so that the leverage of the toggle is the greatest when the rattling-blade is at its most advanced position and when most power is re( nired, as set forth.

2. In a ru tiling attachmmit for sewing-machines, the eombination, with the rutlierframe, of a pendulous blade-carrier pivoted at its upper end to said. frame and carrying a ruftling-blade at its lower end, an operating-lever and a link, the latter bein connected with said lever between its pivotal point and free end, and also with said bladeca-rrier, whereby said blade-carrier will be moved positively in both directions and the toggle formed by the operating lever and. link will. be straightened out as the rnttling-bhtde is advanced to form a rullic, thereby am'ilying the power to the best ad vantage.

3. In a sewing-machine :ruiiier, the combination, with the frame-work thereof having a standard, of a pendulous blade-carrying arm pivoted to the said stamlard, an operating-lever forked to embrace the needle-bar, and a link pivotally attached to the said 1cver rearward of the fulcrun'i of the latter and also connected with said arm, the said link and the front portion of the said lever forming a toggle, to operate substantially as set forth.

i. Ina sewing-imachine rutller, the combination, with the rujliling-blade and its carrying-arm E, provided with a slot, of a toggle one part of which is provided with a pin extending into said slot to move the said carrying-arm positively in both directions, and means for operating said toggle from the needle-bar of the machine.

5. In a sewing-machine rultler, the combi nation, with the stamla-rd a, of the pendulons blade-carrying arm E, pivoted to the said standard and provided with. the slot 6 and the toothed portion e, the regulatingdever F, pivoted to the arm E and having 111 's 6 e, the operating-lever C c, and the link (I, having the pin (Z ITS 6. In a sewing-machine ruffler, the eombi- In testimony whereof I affixlnysignatnre in nation, with the frame-work thereof, eolnprispresence of two Witnesses. ing the standard a and the pendulons bladecarrying arm arranged in front of the said JOHN M. GRIES'I. standard, of the operating-lever pivoted to the front end of the rnffler and having the Witnesses: bends or Offsets c 0 and the link d between HENRY CALVER, the Said lever and the said arm, as set forth. EWELL A. DICK. 

